LeBron James learned a lesson

Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 12:07 PM.

“I’m going to take my talents to South Beach …”

— LeBron James, July 8, 2010

“I’m not having a press conference or a party. After this, it’s time to get to work.”

— LeBron James, July 11, 2014

Sports events seldom live up to the hype promised by breathless TV announcers, Internet quarterbacks or even newspaper columnists. The games people play, and particularly those games played for money, are merely that — games. In the real world, artificial titles we bestow upon so-called “world” champions in basketball, baseball, football and other sports are merely diversionary spoils for fans and players. For owners and players it’s also a dollars and cents business.

Cold, but true.

But things that occur outside the lines sometimes reflect where we stand as a culture. For good or bad — positive and negative — a seemingly minor event in the larger scheme of things will transcend national consciousness. Statements or actions become a rallying point for celebration or, most frequently, criticism.

“I’m not having a press conference or a party. After this, it’s time to get to work.”

— LeBron James, July 11, 2014

Sports events seldom live up to the hype promised by breathless TV announcers, Internet quarterbacks or even newspaper columnists. The games people play, and particularly those games played for money, are merely that — games. In the real world, artificial titles we bestow upon so-called “world” champions in basketball, baseball, football and other sports are merely diversionary spoils for fans and players. For owners and players it’s also a dollars and cents business.

Cold, but true.

But things that occur outside the lines sometimes reflect where we stand as a culture. For good or bad — positive and negative — a seemingly minor event in the larger scheme of things will transcend national consciousness. Statements or actions become a rallying point for celebration or, most frequently, criticism.

In a keyboard stroke last Friday, one of the wealthiest, most successful athletes on the planet had such a moment. Four years ago during a regrettable televised spectacle known as “The Decision,” the moment defined him. Friday, he seized that moment to redefine himself and in the process of doing so perhaps the sports landscape.

LeBron James, a star in the National Basketball Association even before he played a game in 2003 — announced in an eloquent essay posted online via Sports Illustrated that he would return to Cleveland, near his ancestral home in northeast Ohio, to play for the team he left without warning or prior notice just four years ago to “take his talents to South Beach.” It’s a phrase that has haunted him ever since he made it in one of the most watched sports programs ever that didn’t feature actual competition — but plenty of commercials.

By leaving Cleveland in such a calculating fashion for Miami to be paired with a team built to succeed immediately, James became the emblem for self-centered, greedy athletes. And it wasn’t so much that he made the move for more money or to pursue championships; most people are accustomed to that by now. The furor derived from the callous way the announcement was handled.

Showing growth, maturity and perspective, James wrote in Sports Illustrated that his relationship with his home in northeast Ohio is “bigger than basketball,” something he didn’t fully understand in 2010 that is in sharper focus today. He wanted to come home. At not quite age 30, his best years could and should be ahead.

In a keyboard stroke, LeBron James wrote a new script for the rest of his career. And perhaps set a positive tone for professional athletes for the next decade. It’s time to go to work.